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SCHRIFTEN ZUR
SPRACHE UND
LITERATUR VII
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79
TERMINOLOGICAL EQUIVALENCE IN TRANSLATION OF
MEDICAL TEXTS
Assoc. Prof. Sevtap Günay Köprülü
Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, Faculty of Education
sgkoprulu@hotmail.com
1. INTRODUCTION
Medicine, a field of specialization, is always on the agenda as it is related to
human health. The motto “health comes first”, which people use quite often,
shows how important medicine is for people. Because it is so important in
human life, medicine is a field that is constantly developing and always up-to-
date. The continuous development of a field means that new knowledge is
constantly being added. New knowledge can be about diseases, a vaccine, or a
medical device, or about surgeries, organs, or genes - in short, about anything
related to human beings and their health. As can be understood, the field of
medicine has a very broad spectrum. Within this broad spectrum, there are
parties with active or passive roles: physicians, nurses, academicians, students,
health workers, patients, in brief, everyone. Every health-related issue requires
the exchange of information between the parties involved. Healthy and
understandable communication depends on the level of medical language and
terminology used.
Medical language and terminology play a key role in the healthy and
comprehensible exchange of information between people from different
languages as well as between people using the same language. In this regard,
two important issues stand out. One of them is the medical language and
terminology used in the source text. The medical language used in the source
text (whether it is a language dominated by medical terminology of Latin and
Greek origin or an easy-to-understand language using commonly used medical
terms) is influential in determining the terms to be used in translation. The other
is the target audience. Will the translation be done for people who are familiar
with medical terminology and who are in the medical field, or will it be done for
people who are not from the field, with little or no knowledge of the
terminology? Because it is essential to use a language that the target audience
can understand.
80
This study focuses on medical terms used in medical texts that serve to inform
the public. The aim of the study is to investigate whether the linguistic features
of terms are taken into account in translation, i.e. whether equivalence is
achieved at the term level, and to reveal the importance of equivalence for the
target audience.
2. MEDICAL LANGUAGE
The medical language has its unique terminology, which has its origins in Greek
and Latin. Medical terminology consists of terms related to human health such
as anatomy, physiology, disease, finding, diagnosis, tests, and surgeries. The
medical language is not completely separate and distinct from the standard
language, but it differs from it because the meanings of words, syntax, and
grammatical features can differ from the standard language.
The terminology and language used in medical texts vary depending on the
type, function, and target audience of the text. Some researchers make
classifications in terms of the language used in medical texts. In the opinion of
Hudson (1978: 5), medical language can be divided into three sub-branches.
While high technical language is used in academic studies, and textbooks,
medium technical language is used among experts, healthcare professionals, in
procedures, etc., and low technical language is used in magazines, newspapers,
brochures, among laypeople (cited by Erten, 2016: 104). The classification used
by Newmark, on the other hand, is divided into three categories: academic,
professional, and popular (1988: 153). Latin and Greek terminology (e.g.
myocardial infarction) predominates in texts using a high or medium
technicality language. In texts in which low technically language is used, terms
that are commonly used in the colloquial language, in other words, terms used
by the public (e.g. heart attack) predominate. When highly technical language is
used, laypeople, e.g. patients, find it difficult to understand the text. In this case,
we can say that Latin and Greek terms make the comprehensibility of the
medical language difficult for those who have no knowledge of the medical
field.
Medical terminology of Latin and Greek origin is difficult to understand for
those who have no knowledge of the field, but it is an advantage in terms of
comprehensibility for others. In this regard, Fluck (1996: 92) states that the use
of terms of Greek and Latin origin in medical language is advantageous in terms
81
of its internationalization, the absence of false connotations, and the
immutability of its semantic content.
Moreover, since the language of science has been predominantly English in
recent years, the use of English as well as Latin and Greek terminology in
medical terms has started to attract attention. English usage is seen especially in
the newly introduced concepts and terms in the field of medicine.
To make medical terminology easier to understand by the layperson, countries
use similar equivalents in their native languages instead of Latin and Greek-
derived medical terminology (Günay Köprülü, 2017: 254). During my work as a
translator of medical texts, I realized that the terms used in the German
language in the field of health are usually not of foreign origin, but have similar
equivalents in their native language. Meanwhile, in Turkish, mostly foreign-
origin terms are used.
During the covid-19 period, we saw how effective the audio-visual broadcasts
were in popularizing the use of terms in Turkish. In this period, the public
became familiar with terms such as “pandemi”, “bulaş”, “kuluçka süresi”,
“karantina”
27
, etc.
28
as they were frequently heard and read. The importance of
translation in popularizing and establishing the use of terms is also an important
issue that needs to be emphasized.
3. EQUIVALENCE IN MEDICAL TEXT TRANSLATION
In the translation of a text, knowing the type and function of the text is
important in determining the translation method and strategies. Indeed, Reiß
aimed to reflect the function of the source text in the target text by classifying
texts based on their types and functions. Reiß classifies ‘informative texts’ as
content-oriented, ‘expressive texts’ in which aesthetic values are decisive as
form-oriented, and ‘operative texts’ that are intended to evoke certain reactions
in the receiver as appeal-oriented, and, finally, texts accompanied by images
and sound (such as theater) as ‘audio-modal texts’
29
(1986: 31-49). In the
translation methods determined by Reiß according to text types, content-
oriented ‘informative texts’ are texts that aim to inform the recipient, such as
27
pandemic, contagion, incubation period, quarantine
28
For more detailed information on terms, see Gül, Ü. and Yakıncı, C. (2020). COVID-
19 Küresel Salgınında Ulusal Medyada Kullanılan Tıbbi Terimler Üzerine, Çocuk
Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları Dergisi; 63: 32-36.
29
she changed later to multi-medial texts
82
news, instructive writing, observation, article, and law, and require translation
according to the meaning. It is crucial to preserve the quality of the information
they convey and to ensure that this information is understood concretely in the
language of translation. To ensure this clarity, the translator may also refer to
explanatory phrases and paraphrases, as appropriate. Because in these texts,
contextual statements are at the forefront rather than formal language structures
(Reiß, 1986: 34-37). In Newmark, we see an approach similar to Reiß’s idea
that translators may take some liberties to ensure their translation is
understandable. Newmark (1998: 47) argues that in communicative translation,
the source text should be corrected if it is poorly and/or incorrectly written.
In a classification close to Reiß’s, Newmark (1981: 21) divides texts into three
categories: expressive, informative, and vocative texts. According to Newmark,
texts with scientific, technological, commercial, industrial, and economic
content such as textbooks, reports, articles, minutes, and legal documents, etc.
are informative texts.
Medical texts can be texts with many different purposes and functions, such as a
scientific study, textbook, health report, prescribing information, test result,
pathology result, and public health information brochures. In this context, we
can classify medical texts under two main headings in terms of their target
audience: Medical texts for professionals and non-professionals. Scientific
research publications (e.g. academic publications, papers, articles),
educational/instructional publications (e.g. textbooks, dictionaries), and texts on
the field of practice (e.g. anamnesis, epicrisis, medical reports) are considered
within the scope of medical texts for professionals. Brochures on public health,
health-related articles in magazines, patient information leaflets called
prospectuses, and texts published by health institutions on their websites to
inform the public can be given as examples of text types for lay people.
Medical texts are specialized texts that contain information. Specialized texts,
also known as special field texts, use a specific vocabulary and terminology.
The language used in medical texts varies depending on the purpose and target
audience of the text. Therefore, in the translation of medical texts, the linguistic
and terminological characteristics of the text should be taken into account when
conveying the meaning of the text into the target language in a comprehensible
way without causing any loss of information. Care should be taken to use terms
and concepts appropriate to the function of the text.
83
According to Newmark, in the translation of medical texts, a target text should
be aimed at the cognitive impression of the source text. The primary goal in
translation should be to remain faithful to the content of the text, and the
secondary goal should be to create a natural and fluent text in the target
language. Hence, the translator should take into account the audience for which
he or she is translating, because articles written for laypeople and experts have
different styles (Newmark 1979: 1405).
Most studies in the field of translation emphasize the necessity of creating the
same effect on the readers of the target text as the source text has on its readers.
That is to say, the equivalent effect is mentioned. When the concept of
equivalence is examined, it is noticed that the importance of equivalence is
sometimes emphasized in terms of content and sometimes in terms of form.
There are many different classifications of equivalence. Nida (1964)
distinguishes between formal and dynamic equivalence
30
. Formal equivalence
means translating a poem as a poem, a sentence as a sentence, and a concept as
a concept. This translation aims to make the reader understand only what is
found in the context of the source language. In dynamic translation, the
emphasis is on the statement itself and is based on the principle of equivalent
effect. Equivalence is assigned in terms of both content and form. Popovic
distinguishes between four types of equivalence: Linguistic, syntactic, formal,
and textual equivalence. Newmark (1988) sees the equivalent effect as the
desired outcome rather than the goal of any translation (see Köksal, 2005: 34-
36).
While communicative translation tries to create the target language reader the
equivalent of the effect of the source text on its reader, semantic translation
aims to produce the meaning to be conveyed in the source text in the translated
text. It is clear that communicative translation focuses on creating an equivalent
effect on the target readers. But even here the translator must respect the form
of the source language text. Semantic translation attempts to present the
contextual meaning of the source text as far as the semantic and syntactic
structures of the target language allow (Newmark, 1981: 39).
30
later functional equivalence
84
Newmark highlights that the semantic translation method should be applied in
the translation of texts where the original language used by the author is as
important as the content. The semantic translation should be used for expressive
texts and communicative translation for informative and vocative texts. For
informative and vocative texts, the translator should focus on the accuracy of
the message and the main power of the texts, trying to create a pragmatically
equivalent effect on the readers (Newmark, 1981: 44).
4. AN ANALYSIS OF TERMINOLOGICAL EQUIVALENCE IN THE
TRANSLATION OF MEDICAL TEXTS
As part of their efforts to protect their citizens from diseases, pandemics, etc.,
countries prepare brochures and publish them on their websites. The language
used in such texts should be easy to understand. For this reason, such texts use
terms that the public can easily understand and that are in common use among
the people. Hence, in the translation of such texts, it is necessary to use
language and terms that the public can easily understand.
The texts analyzed in this study are German texts that were prepared with the
aim of informing laypeople (the public)
31
. The texts use terms commonly used
in the country, not the terminology of foreign origin.
Example 1: Borreliosis
German Nicht jeder Stich einer befallenen Zecke führt jedoch zur
Ansteckung.
32
Turkish Ancak tutulmuş her kenenin ısırığı enfeksiyona yol açmaz.
In German, the noun word “Ansteckung” is derived from the verb word
“anstecken”. This is not a word specific to medical terminology. However, in
the context in which it is used, it is used as the equivalent of the term
31
Leaflets on important infectious diseases
https://www.infektionsschutz.de/erregersteckbriefe/ 01/02/2023. In a way that is
generally understandable, the information for citizens provides information about the
special features of the individual pathogens. Leaflets examined in this paper are:
Borreliosis, Hantaviruses, Adenoviruses, Ringel Rubella and Hand, Foot and Mouth
Disease.
32
a bite from an infected tick does not always lead to infection.
85
“infection” in medical terminology and means the transmission of disease
33
. In
the Turkish translation, the medical terminology “enfeksiyon”
34
is used directly.
“Enfeksiyon” is the entry and spread of a disease-causing microorganism into
the body.
35
In Turkish, the word “bulaş” is used in the same sense as the
medical term “enfeksiyon”. The word “bulaş” has been learned by society and
its use has become widespread, especially during the COVID-19 period.
Example 2: Hantaviruses
German Bei der Gartenarbeit können die Viren aus befallener Erde
über kleine Verletzungen der Haut, beispielsweise an den
Händen, in den Körper eindringen.
36
Turkish Bahçe çalışmalarında virüsler kontamine topraktan örneğin
ciltteki küçük yaralanmalar yoluyla vücuda sızabilirler.
In the source text, the adjective phrase “befallene Erde” is translated into
Turkish as “kontamine toprak”
37
. The German verb word “befallen” is not a
medical term. However, in the context in which it is used, it carries the meaning
of the medical term “contaminated”. In this example, the phrase “befallene
Erde” refers to earth infected with virus. In Turkish language, the adjective
word “bulaşmış” is used in the same sense as the medical term “contaminated”.
It is also noteworthy that the translation sentence is not clear.
Example 3: Borreliosis
German Ein typisches Zeichen, das bei etwa 90% der Fälle auftritt,
ist die sogenannte Wanderröte (Erythema migrans).
38
Turkish Vakıaların yaklaşık % 90’ında meydana gelen tipik bir
semptom eritemlerdir (Erythema migrans).
The expression “ein typisches Zeichen” in the source text is translated into
Turkish as “tipik bir semptom”
39
. The colloquial meaning of the word
33
see https://www.dwds.de/wb/Ansteckung 01/03/2023
34
infection, contamination
35
https://sozluk.gov.tr/ 01/03/2023
36
Viruses from contaminated earth may enter the body through small skin injuries, e.g.
to the hands, when working in the garden.
37
contaminated earth
38
A typical symptom that occurs in about 90% of cases is erythemamigrans
86
“Zeichen” in the source text is sign. However, when used in the medical field, it
means belirti in Turkish and is used as the equivalent of the medical term
“symptom”. While the German equivalent is used in the source text, this is not
taken into account in the translation. The medical term “symptom” has a fairly
common Turkish equivalent: “belirti”. Therefore, “tipik bir belirti” would be a
very understandable translation for the target audience. Another example where
a medical jargon is used in translation whereas the source text uses a term
commonly used in the language of the country is the term “Wanderröte”. In
German, “Wanderröte”- as already mentioned in the text - is the dermatological
term for “Erythema migrans”. The German term “Wanderröte” and the Latin
term “Erythema migrans” have exactly the same meaning as phrases: migrating
redness. For the term “erythema migrans”, the Turkish term “öküzgözü eritem”
or the noun phrase “boğa gözü döküntüsü”
40
is used; the reason why it is called
this way is because of the shape of the rash on the body: large intertwined rings
with a clear center and red edges. The term “Erythema migrans” does not have a
literal equivalent in Turkish as it does in German. “Eritem”
41
means redness on
the skin. By using a descriptive expression such as “çember şeklinde
kızarıklık”
42
by translating according to its meaning in Turkish, an easy-to-
understand translation is made in accordance with the conceptual knowledge of
the target audience. Because the term “eritem” is not a commonly known term
among the people.
Example 4: Adenoviruses
German Ansteckende Augenbindehaut- und
Augenhornhautentzündung (Keratokonjunktivitis
epidemica).
43
Turkish Bulaşıcı göz konjonktifi ve göz kornea iltihapları
(Epidemik keratokonjonktivit).
In German, the national medical term “Augenbindehaut” is equivalent to the
medical term “conjunctiva” and “Augenhornhaut” is equivalent to the medical
39
a typical symptom
40
bullseye rash
41
Erythema
42
redness in the shape of a circle
43
Infectious conjunctivitis and Keratoconjunctivitis epidemica..
87
term “cornea”. The German word “Entzündung” means inflammation.
Therefore, “Augenbindehautentzündung” is a German vernacular medical term
equivalent to the medical term “conjunctivitis” and
“Augenhornhautentzündung” to the Latin term “keratitis”. As can be seen, the
source text does not use foreign medical terminology, but its equivalent term in
the source language. This is because the text is intended to inform the public.
This should also be taken into account in translation. When we look at the
Turkish translation, it is seen that the expression “göz konjonktifi ve göz kornea
iltihapları”
44
is translated faithfully to the source text. The term “conjonctivite”
is written as “konjonktiva” in Turkish. Therefore, the spelling of “konjonktif” is
incorrect. It is colloquially known as “göz zarı”
45
. The equivalent of the term
“Augenhornhaut” in German is “gözde saydam tabaka”
46
in Turkish. Language
use in the source text needs to be taken into account. This is because the target
audience of translation is public and therefore terms that are known to the
public should be used. Therefore, the translation should read “göz zarının ve
gözün saydam tabakasının iltihaplanması”
47
, which would make it easier to
understand the ambiguous wording in the translation. In this example, it is
necessary to draw attention to the adjective word “ansteckende”
48
. This time, it
is seen that the word is given with its equivalent in the translation
Example 5: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease
German Komplikationen, wie eine Hirnhautentzündung,
Lähmungserscheinungen oder eine Entzündung des Gehirns,
treten nur sehr selten auf.
49
Turkish Menenjit, felç veya beynin iltihabı gibi komplikasyonlar çok
nadir görülür.
In the source text, “Hirnhautentzündung” is translated into Turkish as
“menenjit”
50
. “Meningitis” is the technical terminology equivalent of
44
eye conjunctiva and eye corneal inflammations
45
eye membrane
46
transparent layer in the eye
47
inflammation of the membranes and the transparent layer of the eye
48
contagious, infectious
49
Complications – which include meningitis, symptoms of paralysis or encephalitis –
are very rare indeed.
50
Meningitis
88
“Hirnhautentzündung” in the source text. The national term used in the source
text also has its equivalent in Turkish as a national term: “beyin zarı
iltihaplanması”
51
. However, as in the previous examples, no attention was paid
to ensuring equivalence at the term level, and a higher-level technical term was
used in the translation.
Example 6: Ringel Rubella
German Die Erreger sind auch in der Umwelt sehr
widerstandsfähig.
52
Turkish Patojenler ortamda da oldukça dirençlidirler.
In the source text, the word “Erreger” used in the field of health means
something that causes something else (especially a disease). The equivalent of
this word in technical terminology is the term “pathogen”. In Turkish, it is used
as a “hastalık etkeni”
53
. However, in the translation, the equivalent of a high-
level technical term was used, and the equivalence at the term level was not
taken into account.
Example 7: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease
German Dies gilt auch für Neugeborene, die durch ihre Mütter bei der
Geburt angesteckt wurden.
54
Turkish Aynısı doğumda anneleri tarafından enfekte olan yeni
doğanlar için geçerlidir.
In the source text, the word “angesteckt” is translated as “enfekte”
55
. The
Turkish equivalent of “infected” in the national medical language is “bulaşlı”.
However, since the sentence will be meaningless if the sentence is in the form
of “anneleri tarafından bulaşlı olan yeni doğanlar”
56
, the term should be
51
inflammation of the cerebral cortex
52
The pathogens are highly resistant in the environment as well.
53
disease agent
54
The same applies to newborn babies, who are infected by their mothers during birth.
55
infected
56
newborns infected by their mothers
89
expressed as an adjective phrase as “anneden bulaş almış yeni doğanlar”
57
according to the usage of the term in the sentence. The public has become
familiar with this term as they have heard the use of “bulaş”
58
and “bulaş
almak”
59
quite often during the covid-19 period.
5. CONCLUSION
Since the target audience of the source text is the general public, the text does
not include foreign medical terms (technical terminology), but their German
equivalents. However, this linguistic/terminological use of the source text was
not taken into account in the Turkish translation. In the examples analyzed, it is
seen that the content of the source text is accurately and completely transferred
to the target language. Yet, the relationship established between the reader and
the source text is not the same as the relationship established between the reader
and the translated text. Because the target language text cannot produce a text
that is natural and in line with the linguistic expectations of the reader. The use
of foreign medical terms in the translated text causes the reader to move away
from the text and not fully understand the text. Therefore, medical concepts and
terms used in the source text do not have corresponding equivalents in the
translation text in accordance with their target audience-oriented linguistic
usage. The equivalents used in the translation text are not appropriate for the
target audience as they are medical terms of foreign origin. Accordingly, to
explain in line with Hudson's classification, when high-level technical terms are
used in the translation, the easy understanding of the target audience is ignored,
while low-level technical terms should be used instead.
When the source text is a text produced for a specific function and target
audience, the language used is appropriate to the function and the target
audience. In this regard, the translation of such texts requires a translation that is
equivalent to the linguistic features and terminological usage of the text. The
term used in the source text may not always have an equivalent term in the
target language. In such cases, conveying the meaning of the term, in other
words, providing a definition, makes it easier for the target audience to
understand.
57
newborns infected by the mother
58
infection
59
infected
90
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https://www.infektionsschutz.de/erregersteckbriefe/ 01/02/2023